The Way We Are

Family photo update.

Christmas Time Is Here

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks. Alena loves the Christmas tree, pointing at everything, shaking the jingle bell, and eating cheese! :)



Also, we posted a little video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-8wrxgAk1s

The month's montage

Check out the new compilation video of the past month of Jack. I put it on the youtube page. (sportel 3 and family down on the right side under sportel youtube videos) There were a lot more pictures/videos than I could put in but it was a joy to make.

Jack's First Official Portraits

My first visit with Jack sans tubes and wires.... I see some Katie, and some Sam. What do you all think?

After 31 days, he has come back home

So, here he is. Fatter than ever. And in the same clothes that Reuben, Ben, and I wore home from the hospital when we were born.
His car seat is still a little big for him, but he stays put.
Sleeping right after he got home.
Mom is giving him the tour of his new room. He is definitely confused/curious about the new place. His eyes are constantly moving around checking everything out. Thanks for all the prayers, presents and presence you bestowed on us the past month. It feels great to finally be home.

Merry Christmas!

My mom forwarded this to me and I thought it was pretty great, so thought I'd share!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!

Our first tree!
It's bite-size. We did some shopping with it in our cart and had plenty of room for groceries.


But it fit perfectly.
And yes, that is popcorn and cranberries

"Help Portrait"

I made a small cameo on the local news doing good things with my skills:
http://www.kktv.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5352479&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
I'm that person in grey at the table by the door.

Growing up!

Avery's Birthday! Happy Birthday Big Boy! Hope the Dragon party is Great.

8 Days Old

Here are some new pictures of Jack and his space. The first is a picture of his plastic cube and the quilt Katie made that they keep on top of it when the lights are off.


















This is what he looks like with the lights on. I think he is trying to tan. Little does he know we are actually trying to get rid of his coloring.














Here are his first real clothes. We got some clothes and blankets from Ashley this weekend. He doesn't fill it out, but the length is just about right.


















And a look at his eyes.














All in all, he is doing well. He has some major steps yet, but his breathing is much better already after these short 8 days. I have put a few more movies on my youtube page. You can find the link down on the right by Ben's youtube page link.

Jackson Blaise

Just a couple more pics to show off that amazing hair!
... an his little face without that pipe.




He is doing well today. Off of the breathing helper because he can maintain his own sufficient oxygen levels.
Things are going great!

Fall Photos

I'm finally posting a few pics of the last month-ish. This is a family pic at Robinettes on my birthday!
The next 4 photos are a few that Jenna took in a spontaneous photo session last month. There are many more, but these are some of the highlights!



A few pics from the Wisconsin visit. There was no perfect cousins picture. :)
The children's museum was fun!

Below is Alena in her PJs before bedtime to document her 8-month birthday 10/26. :)
Out of order again... the next 2 were taken today while Alena and I were outside trying to pick up some leaves.
Don't eat the leaves!
Alena was a little monkey for Halloween. We got her in and out of the costume multiple times for family and friends to see her as well as to "help" pass out candy at our house. She had had enough by the end!


Lastly, this was a fun picture during a normal day at home from earlier this month.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

Here is a tour.

If you ever wondered what a day in the life of my students is like, now you can find out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i-hZkf-yhQ&feature=share

California

Our little trip to California for the weekend.
In the end, they finished in a pretty disappointing place, but it was a beautiful weekend on the West Coast!


You can see some mountains in the distance, those are islands. There were also mountains to the north.


playing a game called "flutter-guts" in the sunset


Turns out most of the Colorado teams played at the same par, and were all in the same bracket for 9-12 place, so they decided to play on the beach instead of the fields.


more strange group games on the beach...

Getting rocked by the waves between games. Once you got out about 10 yards it was much less painful. The water was surprisingly cold, but felt more like home for me!


Monday morning, wanting to get in before we had to leave. A few of the guys had gone in before we got there, and had to help drag one of them out because it was so rough. This is about where they stood the rest of the time.